Vintage threads from the first ten years

Apology

ApologyThis is a message to all the people I have "flamed" (as you guys call it) in the past week or so.
Firstly, I wanna apologize to anyone I insulted, but I have been going thru a bit of a rough patch.
I myself have been going thru rehab and it isn't going too well, as I guess a few of you seemed to have picked out in your responses. Let me tell you, IT IS NO JOKE. I have spent most of the last two years or so in and out of rehab clinics while my music career has gone to the dogs. As a singer/guitarist, I always considered myself someone with a lot of potential, but, well, it is true that you cannot sustain any creative abilities whilst dealing with "Harry". It consumes your life.
What upset me was reading about all these "90's musos with needles hanging out of their arms" - pretty much implying most of the musos of today are smack addicts. Unless you've been there, you don't know what it is like. I'm sorry if I offended anyone, but I was angry and my rehab was falling to bits when I wrote a lot of this. Things are a little better, I'm a little more lucid now, so here goes:
Trace (whoever you are), sorry I got a little heavy with slagging you over the EVH stuff, but I used to have a 5150 that I wound up selling for $200 for a hit. It cost me around $3000 (over here) when I bought it. I suppose if it had have been a better amp, then maybe I would have gotten more for it! But then, let's face it, I'd probably be dead if I had.
To anyone else who I don't remember, sorry I was just angry and confused. I wouldn't mind finding out exactly how EVH got his sound, if I could get it to sound EXACTLY like VH1, not like a 5150.
Anyway, sorry to unload on you guys like I did, I was just lost, man, that's all.
If anyone can help me with some advice on how to TRULY get a sound like that, I'm all ears.

quote:"Fuck off, Dick.
This ain't the place for your kind of shit. Go cleanse yourself somewhere else. Just because you're such a loser, no need to inflict it on everyone else."

Well, when a person bares their soul like that and you shit on them.... then what kind of a person does that make you????

He at least thought enough about the Ampage and the people here to post an apology. (Lord knows that's rare) He certainly didn't have to tell us about the problems he's been going through but he did and that takes a lot of courage, especially for someone who is trying to deal with addiction.

Kicking a man when he's down doesn't require great deal of mental skill or ability, however, understanding does.

Now this could be the most insensitive thing I have ever seen. Someone comes to AMPAGE with a TS with too many mids and dozens jump in to show off their knowledge of tone circuits and log amplification, or to otherwise publicly jack off over their own self-knowledge, but someone actually has a REAL problem and you tell them to 'fuck off'? I don't know whether to be sad or pissed.

First off anyone who thinks that guitar and addiction don't run in the same pack are fooling themselves. Anyone can take a high and mighty stance that the two don't mix; anyone who has never taken their guitar out of their bedroom that is. If you just wank along all day by yourself, changing a cap here, a resistor there, it is easy to not have any idea of the reality of earning a living playing guitar. Now please don't think I am saying that the two go hand in hand, but if you have never been in a band that plays out regularly, you have NO idea how easy it is to slip into addictive behavior. I play in a regional band with a fair following (www.driftingthrough.com, not a plug, just proof) and tour schedule. Our rider includes beer choices for all in the band. Most bigger bands riders include drugs and they get them. Even smaller bands usually have ample free beer at most bars. As your fan base grows so does the number of people who want to get close to the band and free drugs are one of the best, time tested ways to get close to someone. Add to this the incredible amount of free time that you have between gigs and you are setting yourself up for an addiction. This is not an excuse, but a reality.

Secondly, if I were to pick the bigger loser B.O.K., it would be you. It takes a big man to admit his faults and mistakes. You certainly don't have to be very big to kick a man while he is down. I only feel "inflicted" by your cruelty and insensitivity to a situation that is VERY real to someone other than yourself. I am embarassed to have my name associated with yours, but sadly it is necessary. I normally try to stay away from flame wars such as this but your comments got my blood boiling, so I apologize to everyone except you for wasting the time and space on this great site.

quote:"As your fan base grows so does the number of people who want to get close to the band and free drugs are one of the best, time tested ways to get close to someone. Add to this the incredible amount of free time that you have between gigs and you are setting yourself up for an addiction. This is not an excuse, but a reality. "

This is VERY, VERY TRUE! I've been on tour many times and I've seen friends slip into addiction before they even know what happened.

People (fans) are MORE than happy to give their favorite musician free drugs. As this happens from city to city musicians do not need to buy any drugs because 98% of the time it's free! Then at some point they buy some here and there and before they know it they have a serious habit on their hands.

I've had to ID bodies of friends when I was on tour because some passerby found then dead some where. I've seen families destroyed because of addiction and I PRAY that no one here ever has to bury a friend because he or she over dosed.

No one starts out with the intention of becoming addicted. I once watched a commercial where they had 50 10 year olds playing on a play ground and the only thing that was said in the whole commercial was "Can you pick out which one will be dead from drugs and which ones will be addicted within the next 10 years?"

That's a heavy concept but regrettably it holds a great deal of truth statistically speaking. As I said it's easy to tell someone to "fuck off and clean up" but that's like saying "cheer up" to a person who suffers from manic-depression. It's just not that easy.

Understanding and compassion are becoming increasingly harder to find here in this world.